Ron Wilson got his ocean view back Tuesday ­ a sight he was beginning to
think he'd never see again.

The longtime resident along Ventura's Pierpont Beach had sought
permission since February to move excessive sand buildup outside his
property. He finally got a city permit last week and quickly arranged to
rent two pieces of equipment ­ at $95 an hour ­ to move the sand and
spread it on the beach.

"I'm tickled to death," said Wilson, whose glass-paned
retaining wall outside his home buckled and shattered from the weight of
the encroaching sand. "My view will finally be like it used to be,
and that's all I ever wanted."

The city's willingness to issue a sand-moving permit, something it was
reluctant to do this spring, could end a dispute that has triggered a
volley of civil claims and threats of lawsuits.

Under an arrangement in the works between the city, state park officials
and the California Coastal Commission, nine other homeowners facing
similar sand buildups could receive the same option as Wilson did ­ to
relocate the sand at their own expense, City Engineer Rick Raives
said.

Such a city permit costs about $1,000, city planning officials
said.

An unseasonably mild winter has left a deluge of sand along the beach,
and recent high winds have driven the sand dunes up against
million-dollar properties and public stairways, in some cases presenting
a safety hazard.

"The focus (among the agencies) is not on leveling the dunes or
improving people's sight-lines," Raives said. "The focus has
been on getting the sand away from the walls and perhaps rectifying an
unsafe condition for those walking by."

Responding to residents' concerns, the City Council in June set aside
$15,000 to tackle the sand issue. Raives' task was to "create a
master permit" to allow residents most affected by the buildup to
remove sand from their outside walls, he said.

Wilson paid an additional $1,500 to hire a biologist to meet a city
condition that any relocated sand would not damage sensitive beach areas,
he said. Raives said the master permit would relieve future applicants of
that cost.

Raives recently walked the beach with state park and Coastal Commission
officials. The agencies agreed on which properties needed the most
immediate relief.

The prospect of other homeowners being allowed to move sand will
"depend on how well it goes this first time," Raives said.
"The Coastal Commission is going to be watching very
closely."

For years, the city used mechanized equipment to periodically level heavy
buildups of sand, particularly those near beach stairways and storm-water
drains at the end of streets in the Pierpont neighborhood. But the
Coastal Commission stripped that authority from the city in 1999,
declaring the vegetative dunes as sensitive habitat.

In addition to the $15,000 for a short-term solution, the city has set
aside $25,000 to hire an expert to study Ventura's coastline and find
ways to reduce the mounting dunes in the future, such as through fencing,
said Vicki Musgrove, a public works division manager.

"We are moving in the direction toward doing something more
permanent," Musgrove said.

Wilson still has a claim against the city to recoup the costs of
repairing his damaged retaining wall, likely to be several thousand
dollars. But he praised city and state officials for ultimately agreeing
to a "common sense" approach, and for backing off from an
earlier requirement that he haul the sand to a designated site near
Surfers Point.

"It's taken a long time, but I think my project will be a real
benefit for others facing a similar problem," he said. "The
sand, as we all know, is not going away."

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